Being Content....

con·tent (kntnt) adj.  1. Desiring no more than what one has; satisfied.
 
When we moved to Ohio we got there in the dead of Winter.  The twins were born a couple of weeks after we got there, and being as small as they were, I stayed in the house for all of that Winter....

Reagan at 2 lbs...

Jason at 4 lbs...

View from my bedroom window in Ohio...

I remember just hating the snow and the cold.  I remember thinking and praying about having a good attitude and finding something to enjoy about the snow and cold.  Then I began to notice things like this....

I had heard and read about the Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall all my life, but, being from Arizona, never really experienced them.  Living in Ohio taught me to appreciate the cycle of the 4 seasons, as well as the wonderful little things that each season had to offer.  I admit, sometimes I had to look really hard at a season before I found something to like, but I learned to love....the ice encased branches, the ice cold breeze that would take your breath away and awaken every sense at once, watching all the little woodland creatures - and big woodland creatures - dig under the snow for the nuts and grass that lay beneath it, watching the birds go crazy when I refilled the feeders for them, and watching my kids play in the snow in the Winter...seeing tulips and daffodils and robins and baby animals and blooming trees, and being a spectator to all the brown turn a vibrant green as the colors of Spring "POPPED" onto the scene - I got lost in my own neighborhood because of how much the landscape had changed the first Spring there...seeing fireflies for the first time and chasing and catching them with my boys, raising tadpoles, having bon fires in our firepit at night, and listening to the frogs as I fell asleep during the Summer....watching the trees turn the most beautiful shades of red, yellow, orange, and pink, listening to the wind rush through the trees, watching as beautifully shaped leaves would fall to the ground, crunching through the leaves that had fallen to the ground, and truly feeling a Spirit of Thankfulness in the air in Autumn....and then we would start again.  I had heard many sermons on the "Seasons of life" as related to the 4 Earthly seasons - but I could never really relate, until I lived through them.  I learned in Ohio to look for the good in each season, Earthly and Spiritually, and to be content in the current season because they don't last long, and they quickly change. 

Here in New Jersey, I find I am, again, looking hard for the good in the current season.  Chris and I, and the boys and I, have had so many conversations about trying to see the good in New Jersey, not talking so much about the bad, and trying to have a good attitude about being here. Southern New Jersey is different - it's expensive, busy, dirty, full of crime...and yet...I am reminded constantly, by the lessons I learned in Ohio. I want to be content. I found a lot of peace in Ohio once I started to look for the good in the moment I was in. I want to be doing what God has made me to do for this season of my life, and be intent and content in doing it. Regardless of the storms of life, regardless of what others are doing, regardless of the endless stream of activities that flow through my day, regardless of the opinions or attitudes of others, regardless of where we are living, I am going to be unmoved in my resolve to be content where I am.

My sister-in-law Hope was here this past Friday, visiting for just the day, and we took her to the beach. I love the beach!!! I am not one to go lay out or go swimming or surfing, but the beach awakens every one of my senses at once - just like the cold Winter wind did in Ohio. I love taking walks on the beach with my family and collecting sea shells, I love listening to the seagulls laugh at me, I love my garden, I love watching the birds visit the feeders I have out for them, I love homeschooling Joshua, I love reading to the twins and listening to their never-ending stories, I love when Elli wakes up crying in the middle of the night, and when I go in and pick her up she covers my faces with her chubby little hands and kisses me over and over again, I love the time I spend with Trevor and Brandon - and am constantly reminded, by their deep voices and sparsely growing whiskers on their faces, that I only have a few years left with them still at home, I love the strong hand of discipline and determination that my husband uses to guide us as a family - until he writes a workout for me to do and tells me eating processed foods are bad - hahaha - and....I love that there is a God in Heaven who, in spite of all my failures, bad attitudes, weakness, and sin, continues to love me and teach me and forgive me.